For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
Local Angles Abound
For RLR/Andersen Racing and Mid-Ohio
PALMETTO, Fla., Aug. 5 - Reporters looking for local angles for their
coverage of the races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend will find
many with RLR/Andersen Racing, which will field cars for Mario Romancini and
Ali Jackson in Firestone Indy Lights action at the Lexington, Ohio facility.
Andersen Racing is headquartered at Andersen RacePark in Palmetto, Fla.,
which is home to its multi-car Star Mazda and karting teams and features the
team's 1-mile road course test track. Andersen Racing is also the
development team of Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR), however, and its Firestone Indy
Lights operation is based at RLR's shops in Hilliard, Ohio.
At least nine team members are residents of the Buckeye State, beginning
with Walter Preston, the team's director of engineering, who hails from
Granville, and including Roland Kirby, the team's transporter manager, who is from
Marysville.
Two men who work on the No. 5 that Romancini drives, which is sponsored by
Andersen Racing, Revita Recycling, Win Brazil Marketing, Allied Interior
Products and Lafarge North America, hail from Ohio. They are that entry's lead
mechanic, Jim Volini, who is from Columbus, and its second mechanic, Bobby
Garcia, who lives in Circleville.
Both the lead mechanic, Ed Daood, and the second mechanic, Ryder Drumm, who
work on Jackson's car, the Moyvalley Golf and Hotel Resort/Allied Interior
Products No. 9, live near the shop in Hilliard.
Three other Ohio residents who work for RLR/Andersen Racing are engineer
Mike Reggio of Columbus; Claudio Novoa, a lead mechanic from Dublin; and
Brandon Dickson, a second mechanic and a team transporter driver from Hilliard.
Romancini is from Sao Paulo, Brazil but he lives in Miami, Fla. when he's
in the states. Jackson, however, a native of Moyvalley, Country Kildare,
Ireland, has been staying in Hilliard since he joined RLR/Andersen Racing in May
in order to be near the team.
Jackson, 20, is doing his best to contribute to his adopted home state
while he's in America. He accepted an invitation to be one of the drivers who
will visit the Children's Hospital in Akron, Ohio at 10 a.m. Thursday as part
of the Racing for Kids program. Robbie Buhl, the national spokesperson for
Racing for Kids and a former IndyCar driver, will also be on hand. The
Racing for Kids show car is slated to be available for patients' photos, and the
drivers will sign autographs and distribute Racing for Kids baseball caps
and coloring books.
Jackson and Romancini will be competing in their first race at Mid-Ohio
this weekend. Both series rookies, they are two of 19 drivers entered in the
Firestone Indy Lights race Sunday morning.
Andersen Racing's team owners have been active at Mid-Ohio many times in
the past, including in roles other than team owners. Dan Andersen promoted
many races here during the 10 years that he owned the U.S. F2000 series, while
his brother, team co-owner and Firestone Indy Lights team manager John
Andersen, served as director of race operations for the Cooper Tires F2000
Championship for many years.
SCCA Runoffs fans have heard the name "Mike Andersen" many times over the
track public address system. Mike Andersen won the SCCA Formula Continental
national championship in 1999, 2001 and 2003, all at Mid-Ohio. Not to be
confused with Mike Anderson of Anza, Calif., who is another driver, Mike
Andersen of Green Pond, N.J. is Dan and Ruth Andersen's son and he's also the
chief financial officer and Webmaster for Andersen Racing.
His sister, Michelle Kish, was the series administrator for the Cooper
Tires F2000 Championship for 10 years, so she's also worked at Mid-Ohio many
times in the past. She's currently the team manager for Andersen Racing's Star
Mazda effort as well as the overall manager of the Florida operations.
Andersen Racing competed in both Firestone Indy Lights and F2000 races on
the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course last year. Jonny Baker, the team's
director of driver development, sat on the pole and won a F2000 race at Mid-Ohio
last July 13 to help Andersen Racing win that series' 2008 team championship
and finish first and second in driver points with Anders Krohn and Baker,
respectively.
Last year RLR/Andersen Racing was never out of the top 10 in Firestone Indy
Lights racing at Mid-Ohio, as J.R. Hildebrand posted a fifth- and a
sixth-place finish for the team and Andrew Prendeville placed ninth and eighth in
the doubleheader held here last July.
This weekend's Firestone Indy Lights action starts with an autograph
session at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
One 45-minute practice session at 8:30 a.m. Saturday is all the time the
teams will have to come up with the set-ups they'll use for qualifying at
11:30 a.m. that day. They'll all be aiming to break the series' track record of
1:13.1434 (111.135 miles per hour) set by Raphael Matos in 2008.
There's a 20-minute warm-up at 8 a.m. on Sunday, followed by the
40-lap/90.32-mile race at 10:15 a.m. that day.
The race is slated to be broadcast at 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10 on VERSUS.
All times are Eastern.
For more information on Andersen Racing, which is sponsored by Allied
Interior Products and Lafarge North America and offers programs in karting and
Star Mazda in addition to Firestone Indy Lights, see its Web site at
andersenracingteam.com. For more information on its 1-mile road course test track in
Palmetto, Fla., see andersenracepark.com.
The series' Web site is at indycar.com/indylights.
About Allied Building Products Corp.:
Allied Building Products Corp., headquartered in East Rutherford, N.J., is
one of the largest roofing and siding distributors in the United States.
Founded in 1950 with five employees and two trucks, today it is a $1.8 billion
building material distribution company with over 3,500 employees, more than
200 branches in 30 states, well over one million square feet of office and
warehouse space, and an inventory of approximately 85,000 products, from
residential roofing and siding to doors, windows, waterproofing, manufactured
stone, interior products and commercial roofing systems. For more information
see alliedbuilding.com.
About the Lafarge Group:
The Lafarge Group is the world leader in building materials, with
top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: cement, aggregates and concrete, and
gypsum. With 83,000 employees in 78 countries, the Group posted sales of
19.0 billion Euros in 2008.
Lafarge North America Inc. ("Lafarge North America" or "Lafarge"), a
Lafarge Group company, is the largest diversified supplier of construction
materials in the United States and Canada.
In 2009 and for the fifth year in a row, the Lafarge Group was listed in
the "Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World." With the
world's leading building materials research facility, the Lafarge Group places
innovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction
and architectural creativity.
For more information about Lafarge North America, go to lafarge-na.com or
contact Louise Muth, director of external communications, at (703) 480-3707.
About Andersen Racing:
Andersen Racing strives to provide the best and most comprehensive training
possible for future open-wheel superstars while giving its marketing
partners media exposure and hospitality opportunities at some of the most
prestigious events in North America. It provides a unique program utilizing multiple
entries in three different platforms: karting, Star Mazda and Firestone
Indy Lights (televised on VERSUS). In 2008 it fielded multiple entries in 42
races in 18 states and provinces at some of the best facilities on the
continent, including the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Andersen Racing won the team championship for 2008 for both the F2000
Championship Series presented by Hoosier Racing Tire and the Star Mazda
Championship presented by Goodyear. Two of its drivers finished first and second in
the F2000 driver point standings, while another was sixth. Three of its Star
Mazda drivers placed third, fifth and sixth in that series' driver
standings. RLR/Andersen Racing finished sixth in the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights team
standings, while one of its drivers placed fifth in that series' driver
point standings.
Andersen Racing's principals, brothers Dan and John Andersen, have
extensive experience in series administration as well as team management. They've
worked with many of today's top open-wheel stars, including several Indy 500
winners.
Andersen Racing is sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp. and Lafarge
North America. It is the official development team of Rahal Letterman
Racing. The team is headquartered at Andersen RacePark, an 18-acre facility in
Palmetto, Fla. that includes a 1-mile road course test track. For more
information see andersenracingteam.com and andersenracepark.com.